Christianity and AOC laws
Submitted by Heather on April 09 1999 at 18:28:50
In reply to Not precisely... Submitted by F.O.D. on April 09 1999 at 10:06:29
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The purpose of the AOC laws is certainly a puzzle; various legislators seem to have had various goals in mind (good and bad) when they passed them. At the moment, my guess is that most people would justify them by saying that they help to prevent statutory rape and exploitation of children, but in fact the laws have also been used to enforce views on childhood sexuality and to try to prevent teenage pregnancies. Every society, whether Christian or not, has legislated sexuality in accordance with its moral views. As you say, the present AOC laws don't have any special "Christian" feel to them; they simply reflect the society-wide belief that children should not have sex, and they are under greatest attack from people who believe that child-child sex is a natural part of childhood. Most of the reforms in recent years to AOC laws have been to create harsher penalties toward pedophiles while eliminating the penalties toward children who have sex with their peers. Personally, I think that if a child is too young for sex, he's too young for sex, no matter who his partner is, but certainly the pedophile's greater maturity in relation to the child is an added factor - whether for good or for ill, I couldn't say. Heather |